


For the Right Reasons

by Anankhe



Category: Daredevil (Comics), Daredevil (TV), Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616, Punisher (Comics), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Avocados at Law, Cap's wiggly mustache, Civil War (Marvel), M/M, Matt doing the right thing, Secret Identities, Some Humor, Some angst, all lawyers are afraid of the She-Hulk, and Cap is always out of the loop, and being an awesome lawyer, and their divorce, bad disguises, eventually, in which Hercules and Goliath are gossipy old ladies, lots of comic references, mentions of Cablepool, pretty much Steve just being so done with everyone's shit, some porn, superheroes failing at being inconspicuous
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-01
Updated: 2015-08-01
Packaged: 2018-04-12 11:22:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4477412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anankhe/pseuds/Anankhe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the daredevil kinkmeme prompt: "What if during Civil War Daredevil is nowhere to be found? He's not on Cap's team, but he's definitely not on Tony's side either. Instead Matt Murdock's in the courtroom doing what he can to protect the heroes whose identities have been revealed.</p>
<p>Since no one knows he's Matt Murdock, the other heroes question where he was during the war."</p>
<p>The war has forced them all to make some tough decisions, but sometimes it's not so easy to tell what the right thing to do is. Sometimes there is just no correct answer.</p>
<p>Whatever Matt decides, however he chooses to help in this war, he has to make sure he's at least doing it for the right reasons.</p>
<p>Of course, this will have its consequences for Daredevil's reputation in the superhero community.</p>
            </blockquote>





	For the Right Reasons

**Author's Note:**

> The link to the original prompt and its discussion is: http://daredevilkink.dreamwidth.org/3230.html?thread=7040926#cmt7040926
> 
> I've taken some dialogue straight from Civil War #3. If this scene seems confusing I recommend reading that issue (or the whole main event, for those unfamiliar with the comics :D it's amazing). This contains some heavy spoilers from the event, so be warned. I also know nothing about law or the american constitution (since I'm not American), which I only mention briefly, and my knowledge of how bills and laws work is limitd to LB2, but I hope you can all enjoy this anyway.
> 
> This takes place right after Peter Parker's public unmasking, and I'm gonna play around with the timeline a bit to make things fit. That means that what happens right after this scene in the comics is not going to happen yet. Lots of characters from the comic books will be mentioned, so if you're unfamiliar with them and it annoys you, you might want to avoid reading this. 
> 
> That being said, I shall leave here the link to the little gem that inspired part of this scene: http://www.zonanegativa.com/imagen/4816.jpg

* * *

 

“My name is Brett Hendrick, and I'm a security supervisor at a shopping mall in Queens.”  
  
“I am Victor Tegler, and I am an I.T. consultant for a major international finance corporation.”  
  
The diner is as nondescript as they come. The perfect place for the not-quite nondescript group of four to reunite, sitting in a booth too small for their large frames, hiding in plain sight with disguises that would've earned Clark Kent's approval... and no one else's.  
  
“My name is Cooper Peyton,” says Matt coolly, projecting confidence and self-assuredness with every word with an ease only someone who has played the secret ID game for years can manage, “and I'm an engineer from Long Island.”  
  
Oddly enough, he doesn't feel as exposed as he thought he would, wearing clear reading glasses instead of his own red-tinted ones. They don't feel much different from his own – the shape of the lenses, the thickness of the frame, even their weight on his nose, are familiar in a comforting way -, similar enough that what differences he _can_ feel he would've simply dismissed if Steve hadn't pointed out the one difference he _can't_.  
  
It shouldn't be a problem, he tells himself, pushing the glasses up the bridge of his nose like he has sensed others do hundreds of times – like Hercules has done six times in the last ten minutes alone – despite the pointlessness of the act. It'll be an interesting exercise and a nice challenge to his performing skills. And while it's not something he needs to do often – at least outside of court, when Foggy insists the act helps instill trust in others –, he's pretty confident in his ability to make and maintain eye contact with other people. He'll get used to it in no time.  
  
Not everyone is taking their part as seriously, however.  
  
“What kind of name is Rockwell Dodsworth? And how the hell did I end up as a community outreach worker?” Goliath complains, completely ignoring Captain's order to _stick to your role and do as we rehearsed_. Steve sighs loudly in the unmistakable way of someone who is just _so done_ with everyone's shit, his fake mustache twitching like a live thing on his upper lip, and the rustling sound brings a smirk to Matt's lips despite the seriousness of the situation. “I told Nick Fury I wanted to be something cool – like an actor or a race car driver. You think he could maybe get me something else?”  
  
“No, we take whatever Nick has to _offer_ , Goliath,” Steve says firmly but patiently, like he hasn't explained this a dozen times already. Matt thinks Foster should just cut his loses and quit while he's ahead, and stop tempting fate by complaining to their leader – and now _mall cop_ , and Matt doesn't know if Foggy would be delighted or offended by the mere _thought_ –, lest the man _offer_ to trade. Steve is probably way better suited to community outreach anyway.  
  
He briefly considers proposing the idea, if only to feel Foster squirm a little bit, but Steve cuts him off before he can so much as open his mouth. “Besides, the secret IDs are just a place to go to ground when we aren't doing the important stuff.”  
  
The important stuff. Just a simple way of alluding to their night activities in such a public place. And it's strange, seeing as not much is changing – at least not on the superheroing front - , but this whole new identities thing puts a new exciting twist to something they've been doing for ages. Funny how getting a new day job can make their night jobs seem much more thrilling.  
  
“I'm actually getting into this new secret identity thing,” Matt admits amicably, grinning like a shark. He probably shouldn't be enjoying himself as much as he is, but he's always kind of not-so-secretly enjoyed the secrecy and subterfuge of their occupation. The danger. And okay, maybe – _just maybe_ – he wants to rub it in Goliath's face that he got a cooler job than his. “I'm trying to come up with new favorite foods... new favorite movies... new favorite bands...”  
  
He's not expecting it, so he almost misses it. He would've, hadn't the stutter – faint, barely noticeable, but unmistakable – come from the steadiest heartbeat in their group. Hell, probably the steadiest Matt's ever heard, sharp and precise as an atomic clock. It confuses him for a moment and he trails off, tilting his head questioningly in Steve's direction. He can tell Captain America is gracing him with a considering _look_ , tense enough Matt can almost hear it, but the pieces don't fall into place until the recognizable smell hits his nostrils.  
  
Whatever Steve wants to say, he's nervous about it.  
  
“Cap?” he prompts after a moment, once it becomes clear Steve won't offer his thoughts freely. It takes the larger man a minute to answer, like he's gathering his thoughts and struggling to put the words in the right order before he lets them free.  
  
“I appreciate that you're taking this so... optimistically. I know it's not an easy thing to ask of any of you, to just leave your normal lives and... put them _on hold_ ,” he starts slowly, ignoring the three confused looks sent his way, “until this is all over...”  
  
Is _that_ what this was all about? Some sort of misplaced guilt over asking them to make a sacrifice they each would've made anyway? It's... not what he was expecting, but it's also so _Steve_ that Matt can't help but breathe out in relief. He guesses that not even experienced leaders are exempt from feelings of culpability. Not the good ones, at least, so he smiles encouragingly.  
  
“I can't speak for all of us, but this isn't a choice I made just because you asked nicely,” he says bluntly. “It's a choice I made years ago, when I first put on the costume, for no other reasons than my own. This fight is no different from any I've fought before. And not even _you, Captain,_ ” he adds teasingly, to lighten up the defiance of the statement, “could keep me out of it.”  
  
He thinks of his words as reassuring, with Goliath and Hercules earnestly seconding him. It doesn't seem to do the trick, though. Steve doesn't even crack a smile.  
  
“I've been... rethinking... the best strategy for our situation,” he admits solemnly. Goliath and Hercules trade a glance, and offer one in Matt's direction.  
  
“I thought we'd already made up our minds on our course of action,” Hercules inputs in his rumbling voice, one again pushing his glasses up his nose.  
  
“We quit our day jobs, stay under the radar...” Foster provides.  
  
“So we can continue our... _the important stuff_ ,” Steve finishes awkwardly, aware of their very public surroundings, eyes darting briefly to the waitress wiping down a table two tables over. “Fighting the good fight. Making a difference,” he adds more lowly. “But I've been thinking about it, and I feel making some... exceptions... might be in our best interests.”  
  
Matt's eyebrows rise high above the edge of his glasses.  
  
“You're not changing your mind now, are you?” he says, trying and failing to keep a hint of defiance out of his tone. He bites his tongue and takes a deep breath before he can say something he regrets. Dissent amongst the ranks is the last thing they need right now, and it would only take a small spark to start that fire.  
  
“We discussed this already, and we all agreed on it. _Together_ ,” Hercules says reasonably before Matt can continue, gesticulating with his hands in a surprisingly gentle manner for someone his size. “The moment we stop fighting, stop going out onto the streets and protecting people – the moment we _allow_ them to keep us from doing what we believe is right – is the moment we _lose this fight_ ,” he says emphatically.  
  
“No, no, I agree with you,” Steve says with a slight shake of his head. “You misunderstand me. I'm not saying we should quit getting out there and doing our duty. I just think we should... reevaluate our options...”  
  
“Reevaluate?”  
  
“I'm just... listen, what I'm trying to say is...” he trails off, clearly putting his thoughts together on the spot, and that helps Matt relax minutely. At least they won't be getting a rehearsed, overwritten speech. It means no decision has been made without their input. “This is a legal matter. It's no longer just about ethics, or what's right and wrong. That would be easier to deal with, ironically. Stark made our very existence effectively _illegal_ the moment the bill was passed, and he's beating us because of _that_.”  
  
“He's beating us because he knows how to play a crowd better than we do,” Matt argues with a tired groan, sliding his glasses up to his forehead an pinching the bridge of his nose. Hercules grunts in agreement.  
  
“Okay. Point granted,” Steve admits with a pained wince.  
  
“What about Spider-man?” Asks Foster, pointing at the elephant they've been sharing a room with since the press conference that morning. “You believe Tony Stark talked him into just taking off his mask like that?”  
  
“Strategically, it's a brilliant move,” Matt admits, smirking bitterly and crossing his arms as he leans back on his seat. “Nobody's guarded his secret ID more than Spider-man, so it's a powerful message for all the costumes still sitting on the fence.”  
  
“It _is_ a brilliant move," Steve admits with more than a little bitterness, "and I didn't even see it coming. It's going to be devastating for us, but that's not even the worst part,” he mumbles tiredly. Matt can hear him running his fingers through his short hair. “Worst part is I know Tony, and he wouldn't be doing this if he didn't really believe it was the right thing to do. Which brings me to the point I was trying to make... the Superhuman Registration Act is a huge violation to the constitution. The bill would've never garnered the public support it required to be passed without Stark's support. Not even with Richards and Pym backing it.”  
  
Steve pauses and gives them a moment for the information to sink in.  
  
“So... if we want a chance of coming up on top,” Matt ventures, trying to get ahead of Steve's train of thought, “we're gonna need to convince him to retract his support of the Registration Act.”  
  
Steve nods curtly.  
  
"Even though it's already a law-"  
  
"If Tony retracts his support, public support is likely to go with him... I hope," he says earnestly. "It doesn't solve things, but it's the _bare minimum_ we're gonna need to turn this around. It's the first step. We need public support - a majority of it, which we do not have yet - and we know the best way to sway it in our favor is to pull Tony over to our side-"  
  
“And to do that we have to play by his rules. We need to prove him wrong in the only way he'll listen.”  
  
Steve shakes his head.  
  
"All we need is to make him doubt himself. But you don't listen to someone when you're trying to put your fists through each other's skulls. It's not easy to reason with him nowadays. He's chosen to go the legal way, because it's what the people asked for. He's putting a lot of faith in a legal system we both know is deeply flawed - no offense," Matt waves it off with a hand motion before Steve can apologize. "But he believes in it, and he respects it - ironically, given his history - and if we can just use it to _show_ him..." Steve hesitates slightly, and just like that it _clicks_ for Matt.  
  
“You want a legal representative. That's what you meant by making some exceptions,” he guesses, no questioning tone, just a clear and concise statement. He can tell just by the soldier's heartbeat that he hit that nail right in the head, but the thought is not as reassuring as it should be. “You want one of us to defend us out there, to show Stark and the rest of the world our side of the story, in _the only way they'll listen_ , in the only scenario they'll even allow us to use _words_ instead of _our fists_ ,” Matt continues, his stomach slowly sinking. He knows where this is going, but maybe... maybe if he plays dumb, Steve will abandon the notion... Maybe. Matt smiles tightly. “Why didn't you just say so? So I keep doing what we're doing, we stick to the plan, only difference is I keep my day job. I would make a shitty engineer anyway...”  
  
_Please, please, please let it go..._  
  
No such luck.  
  
“Listen, Darede–“  
  
Matt almost winces.  
  
“No,” he cuts him off icily, firmly, and prays Steve will just drop it because the man can be too convincing for his own good. He can hear both Hercules' and Goliath's muscles tensing reflexively. "You cannot ask this of me-"  
  
“ _Matt_ ,” Steve says, and though Matt hates him for sounding so reasonable, his body betrays him by deflating minutely. Some of the tension in his shoulders disappears.  
  
“You're ordering me to stay out of this,” Matt says coldly, accusingly - _beggingly_ \- , but his tone is more resignation than straight out resistance. Steve sighs tiredly. Almost like he's sorry he has to do this. Matt scoffs.  
  
“I'm _asking_. We cannot risk our lawyer being exposed as one of us. Do you have any idea what a scandal _that_ would turn into?” Yes. Matt has a pretty good idea. “We need someone to represent us, and with Walters on Tony's side...”  
  
“And you want me to face _the She-Hulk_ in court?”  
  
He manages to end the sentence in a loud whisper, but his indignation is still tangible enough to turn some heads in their direction.  
  
“You're insane,” he whispers as he waits for their attention to be diverted elsewhere, grabbing onto the edge of the table with both hands. He would bet his knuckles are white as snow.  
  
Foster chuckles amusedly.  
  
“What's the matter, Daredevil? Scared?” he teases, impervious to the unfocused glare Matt inflicts on his collarbone.  
  
“I'm not afraid to admit Jennifer Walters is an amazing lawyer who can _wipe the floor_ with me and my partner. _Literally_ ,” he growls, crossing his arms petulantly before wilting as a horrifying thought strikes him. “And even if she doesn't, she's probably the type who eats little guys like Foggy breakfast, _oh God_... cut it out, guys, I'm serious! You haven't heard _the stories!_ ”  
  
That only seems to fan the snickering.  
  
“Oh, man,” Hercules wipes a tear away, only to dissolve once more into chuckles as he looks at Matt's horrified face.  
  
“Is that... the kind of urban legends you hear about in law school, Murdock?” Foster asks mirthfully. “Did they tell you the big, bad, green lady would come for you if you-”  
  
“This is _not_ funny,” Matt says, voice muffled behind his two hands.  
  
“Cut it out, both of you,” Steve orders, but his voice betrays the slightest tremble of barely contained mirth. “You can talk about this later, in private-”  
  
“Fuck you, Rogers.”  
  
“But _now_ ,” he stresses, his voice decidedly more serious, as he waits until the other two have sobered down. “Now we have a decision to make. A decision in which _Matt_ has the final word,” he adds, directing an expectant look at the redhead. “Not only are you in a position to do a lot of good for our cause. You also have a huge advantage that nearly no one else on our side has. Only the three of us, plus Luke and Danny – now that Jessica is in Canada with Danielle – , know who you are. Out of all of us, your identity is the most airtight-”  
  
“Parker knows as well,” he retorts weakly, grasping at straws.  
  
“But Tony doesn't know that,” Steve counters like he was expecting that argument. Probably was, the bastard. “We'll have to trust Peter to keep your secret. He's a good kid, he won't out you against your will.”  
  
“What about Wilson? _Wade_ Wilson?” he makes the correction before Captain can inquire about the Falcon. “He's known about me for... _years_ ,” he waves his hand around vaguely. Even Matt can't remember how long it's been. “I can't even remember how he found out. Last I heard he was hired by Stark to bring us in. A Hero Hunter of sorts.”  
  
Steve actually pauses at that.  
  
“Was he?” he asks, frowning worriedly. “Is he likely to come after you?”  
  
Matt opens his mouth, but the words that stumble out are not the ones he'd expected. They're true, nonetheless.  
  
“Not really,” he admits defeatedly. “Deadpool might be a sleazeball, but he can be downright _decent_ when it matters.”  
  
“And he's no longer working for Stark as a Hero Hunter,” Hercules inputs, in the tone of someone sharing the latest gossip, going on over Captain's outraged _you_ _ **knew**_ _about this?_ like he doesn't even hear him. “Not since him and Cable had their little lovers' spat over the whole thing.”  
  
“ _Lovers' spat?_ ” Foster asks with a frown, taking a moment to digest the words over Steve's frustrated moan of _no one tells me anything anymore_ before adding, “I thought it was more of a divorce?”  
  
“No shit. _That bad?_ ”  
  
“That's what they're calling it. Even if they weren't _technically_ married, you know...”  
  
“ _Damn._ ”  
  
“Uh-huh.”  
  
“If you guys are done, can we please go back to business?” Steve actually pleads, that tired he is. It seems more effective than an actual order. “Thank you. Now, Matt... you don't have to give me an answer right now. But please, just... think about it. Sleep on it. Talk it over with your partner... I can give you a couple of days to decide.”  
  
Matt nods mutely. Defeatedly.  
  
"Even if it proves useless to try to get to Stark - which I'm not losing hope of yet -, it'll still be a huge help to have someone out there looking out for us," he adds softly in a tone whose effectiveness in convincing others Matt is sure Steve is fully aware of. "We need someone to defend us where our superpowers fail. And if you can get us some sympathy with the general public... well, that doesn't hurt either."  
  
Matt runs his hands through his hair, cursing inwardly at being put in such a tough position. He wants to rebel at the suggestion of staying out of the _real_ fight, of keeping to the sidelines, but Steve made a strong case and it's hard to ignore it.  
  
He can tell when the others wordlessly decide to give him some space, and it irks him as much as he appreciates it. He shuts them out as they empty their plates and make small talk for the rest of the evening, his thoughts whirl-winding inside his head.  
  
Foggy will, undoubtedly, be _delighted_ by the proposition. That'll make one of them, he thinks sourly.  
  
He vaguely senses Steve waving the waitress over and paying for their food. The clicking of her heels on the tiled floor and the way her heartbeat spikes when Steve smiles at her go unregistered.  
  
“Keep the change, Ma'am, and thanks for a wonderful meal.”  
  
He's already turning the idea around in his head, looking at it from every angle, and making a list of the pros and cons of agreeing to Steve's request.  
  
He cannot help but feel like, whatever choice he makes, he'll end up regretting it.

 


End file.
